Titan - Sweet Dreams

Titan are a progressive instrumental metal band from Brooklyn, New York. Incorporating elements of prog, metal, kraut rock and psychedelic rock, Titan bring an interesting fusion of genres to the table on their Relapse Records debut, Sweet Dreams.

How is it?

Hit or miss. While Titan are undoubtedly highly skilled musicians, their technical abilities often become a bit too much to stomach at once. The music can either come across as rousing and lively, or meandering and dull. This is due in part to a healthy (or perhaps unhealthy) amount of keyboard. At times the keys give a bit of a Spinal Tap-esque vibe to the music, particularly on the second track, which, incidentally, has the decidedly Spinal Tap-esque title "Synthasaurs". Yet, there is still plenty of good ideas present as well. "Highlands of Obica" is a guitar-heavy riff fest with just the right amount of technical musicianship, never veering into "wankery" territory. Ultimately, Sweet Dreams is an album that while full of top notch musicianship, will most likely please those whose taste skew more towards the progressive; more mathematical side of things. If you don't mind a bit (read: a lot) of space rock keyboard in your progressive metal, then by all means, Sweet Dreams is the album for you.

Recommended if you like:

Horseback's The Invisible Mountain
Mastodon's Crack The Skye
Coheed and Cambria's Year of the Black Rainbow